Publication

Title:

Influence of History of Solution in Crystal Nucleation of Fenoxycarb: Kinetics and Mechanisms

Authors:

Manuel Kuhs, Jacek Zeglinski, and Åke C. Rasmuson, 2014

Abstract:

Nearly 1800 induction time experiments have been
performed on crystal nucleation of fenoxycarb in isopropanol to
investigate the influence of solution pretreatment. For each preheating
temperature and preheating time, at least 80 experiments were
performed to obtain statistically valid results. The relationship
between the inverse of the induction time and the preheating time
can be reasonably described as an exponential decay having time
constants ranging up to days depending on the temperature. This
dependence on the preheating temperature corresponds to an
activation energy of more than 200 kJ/mol. Given sufficiently long
preheating time and high temperature, the solution appears to reach a
steady-state where the “memory” effect has disappeared. Density
functional theory modeling suggests that the molecular packing in the
crystal lattice is not the thermodynamically stable configuration at the level of simple dimers in solution, while modeling of the first solvation shell reveals that solute aggregation must exist in solution due to the low solvent-to-solute molecular ratio. It is thus hypothesized that the dissolution of crystalline material at first leaves molecular assemblies in solution that retain features of the crystalline structure which facilitates subsequent nucleation. However, the longer the solution is kept at a temperature above the saturation temperature and the higher the temperature, the more these assemblies disintegrate and transform into molecular structures less suited to form critical nuclei.